


The Assassin's Assassin (Bucky/OC)

by Skulva



Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Adventure, Explicit Language, F/M, Romance, Sex, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:47:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26959792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skulva/pseuds/Skulva
Summary: Cut off one head, two more grow back.Harlow's family has been Hydra since the beginning, when Harlow returns from the Snap that devastated the world she finds her parents missing. In order to prove her loyalty to Hydra she must do as she's told.After many failed attempts to reclaim their prized possession, Hydra knows that they can't afford to have the Winter Soldier as their enemy,Harlow's mission... kill the Winter Soldier.(Post The Avengers End Game)
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	1. 5 Years Later

_Munich, Germany 2023_

The heavy rain pelted against the roof of the empty house. The house was situated just outside of the town of Munich, a place where you could easily keep a low profile especially if you spoke the language and didn't draw too much attention. A German-born family of three owned the property, a mother, father and daughter. They bought the house after they moved from the bustling city of Berlin. The mother was a nurse for the local doctor's office, the father a software developer and the daughter a student studying by distance from a university in England. A perfectly normal, mundane family who never turned any heads. They hadn't been seen for 5 years due to the blip, neighbours assumed. The house stayed dark and silent until this one rainy afternoon when one of its inhabitants returned.

Harlow awoke with gasp while lying on her side in her kitchen, she blinked rapidly trying to clear her vision. She assumed she had fainted while entering her kitchen for a late lunch, she had trained so hard that day that she had forgotten to eat,

_You're a right idiot aren't you Harlow?_

She pulled herself off the ground slowly, her head spinning as she gripped onto the counter to steady herself.

"Mom!" she called out. Harlow looked around the kitchen, she could have sworn her mom was in the kitchen cutting up vegetables in preparation for dinner when she arrived home earlier. Harlow opened the fridge and took in a sharp breath, the food in the fridge was rotten and the smell was unimaginable.

"Mom! Dad!" she shouted as she ran through the house from room to room, shouting for her parents over and over again but all she was met with was silence.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was later on in the evening and Harlow had searched top to bottom for any clue of where her parents would have gone. The car wasn't in the driveway which Harlow had hoped meant they had gone for a drive for the afternoon, but the rotting food and piled up newspapers said otherwise. Every now and then Harlow would hear cheering coming from the streets, she decided to leave a note for her parents and set off towards the noise coming from town to investigate further. She found her way to the local pub, her family had been there a few times for dinner, it was a quaint place. Harlow entered and the pub was roaring with laughter and all around happiness as if the town's football team had just won a championship. She found an empty spot at the bar and sat down to collect her thoughts,

_What was going on here?_

"What can I get you?" said a kind bartender who had pulled up in front of Harlow,

"Um I..." Harlow mumbled,

"You okay there? Are you looking for your loved ones too Miss?" she asked,

"What?" Harlow asked, a confused look clouded her face,

"You know...." the bartenders expression changed to a saddened expression, "Oh you don't know, you're one of the vanished then" she said,

"One of the vanished?" Harlow asked,

"5 years ago people vanished and today they just came back, just showed up in the same spot they were 5 years ago" she explained,

"So my parents and I vanished, but then why was I the only one home?" Harlow asked herself,

The bartender smiled shyly, "Miss, half of humanity just disappeared and then all of a sudden today everyone came back so if that's not a miracle then I don't know what is, your parents are probably out there looking for you too, don't worry they'll turn up" the bartender said cheerfully while she poured Harlow a drink, "You are 18 miss?" she asked.

"Technically I'm 30 now" she mumbled,

"Well that's one good thing about all this hey!" she laughed, Harlow stared down at her drink,

She needed to find her parents, she downed the liquid, it burned on its way down as she remembered she still hadn't eaten anything today,

_Or for the past 5 years._

Harlow made a quick exit from the pub, she couldn't wrap her head around the fact that she had been gone for 5 years, it felt as if she was gone for a couple of minutes. She wasn't going to get any answers while everyone was celebrating the return of their loved ones.

"Excuse me, miss?" a woman called out to Harlow in a deep German accent, "I'm not from this part of Germany and I am very lost, is there any chance you could help me?"

"No I'm sorry, I am in a hurry" she huffed as she tried to go on her way down the now quiet street,

"Please you must help me I am looking for my family, I'm sure they're from this side of town" she said while she tried to grab at Harlow's arm,

"Please leave me alone" Harlow brushed the woman off again,

"Wait!" she called, the woman gripped Harlow's arm hard and pulled her close enough until the woman's mouth was at Harlow's ear.

"Hail Hydra" she whispered in perfect English, Harlow looked at the woman with wide eyes and opened her mouth to speak but it quickly turned into a yelp when the woman plunged a needle into her neck.

Harlow's vision blurred and her body slowly went limp. The woman took out a phone from her coat pocket, dialled and bought it to her ear while she observed Harlow's unconscious body,

"Bring the car around, the traitor's daughter is back". 


	2. Traitor

Harlow opened her eyes blinded by the white strip light above her. She bought a hand to her head as it throbbed and everything snapped back to her.

_Where was she?_

She sat up quickly causing her head to spin, she sat on the floor of a metal room surrounded by nothing but a door with a small window and an obvious security camera sitting in one of the corners of the room.

Harlow slowly gained her balance as she stood up, she made her way to the door to look out of the small window. She saw nothing but an empty hallway, she threw a fist against the door to let them know she was awake.

_Why was Hydra doing this?_

Soon enough a guard appears behind the glass and gestures for Harlow to back up against the furthest wall, she rolled her eyes as she knew the protocol as she was usually the one on the other side of that glass.

She did as she was told and the guard entered,

"Harlow Zakhaev, turn face the wall and put your hands on your head.

"Yeah, yeah I know" she snapped, "what the hell is going on here? I am not enemy of Hydra" she said,

"We'll see about that," he replied, as he pulled her roughly out of the cell and into the hallway.

Doctor Venkov stood analysing blood samples when Harlow was escorted into the lab.

"Ah Harlow good, come in" he called out placing the vile back into the holder,

"I didn't really have a choice did I?" She grumbled.

He chuckled.

"Mr Fastner will be joining us shortly, but for now I shall look at your vitals as I understand you were one of the people who were taken, yes?" he asked,

Harlow was forced to sit on the examination table by the guard,

"Yeah I found that out for myself, my parents are missing too, are they here as I would like to see them," she asked.

The Doctor didn't answer, just took the syringe and placed the needle into her arm. The doors to the lab were pushed open as Mr Fastner revealed himself, Mr Fastner was a high official of Hydra one of the last as Hydra numbers kept dwindling but still managed to stay alive. Doctor Venkov left the room with Harlow's sample in hand.

Harlow had always been afraid of Mr Fastner, ever since she was a little girl.

"Miss Zakhaev, good to have you back with us" he said unbuttoning his suit in order to sit down,

"Thank you Sir" she replied, barely able to look at him,

"I'm going to keep this short Miss Zakhaev. Your parents were traitors. When you disappeared they were left behind, they lost themselves to their grief of losing you and in turn lost their ability to perform for us. They tried to flee Germany without Hydra's permission, when we bought them in for questioning they decided they wanted nothing to do with Hydra and in doing so they were executed for it" he said in a chilling calm voice,

Harlow's breath hitched in her throat and her vision blurred, it was as if the world stopped spinning and she was in a terrible dream that she couldn't wake from.

"We have brought you here to see where your loyalty lies, with Hydra or with your traitorous parents?" he asked,

Harlow wanted to scream at him, but she knew she had to be very careful with her next few words.

"My loyalty has always been to Hydra, I am nothing like my traitorous parents" she said, looking him straight in the eye,

"Good. Our numbers dwindle so I'm glad I don't have to shoot you today" he smiled a sickening grin while pulling out a small gun from his pocket, "You will have you chance to prove your loyalty of course, you are to be given a living quarters here for you to resume your training then you will be going on an assignment, don't fail us" he said sternly rising from his seat to walk closer to Harlow.

He took her chin in his hand and pointed the gun at her head with a smile, "It would be a shame to lose such.." his gaze went down her body and back up to meet her eye, "potential".

Harlow swallowed sharply but maintained eye contact, Doctor Venkov entered the room as Mr Flint left,

"Okay, you are good to go, the guards will show you to your room, rest up and you should be fine" he said happily.

Harlow's face was like stone until she got to her room, she crumbled in on herself when she hit the floor, she had never felt so much pain in her life.

_Dead. Her parents were dead._

_Traitors._

_Executed._

She stayed in that same spot for hours, until her tears had finally stopped and her mouth was dry.

She had to stay strong, she had to keep moving.

That's what her parents would say.

She was Hydra, it had always been her home.

She was scheduled to start her training again at 6am tomorrow morning, she had to prove her loyalty to Hydra or she would end up just like her parents. 


	3. Mission

Harlow barely slept that night, this caused her to wake up late for training but she didn't care.

Walking into the training room was daunting, a class of new recruits stood around listening to their instructor.

"Fresh meat got lost on the way by the looks of it" a girl in the front row whispered loudly, causing the class to laugh.

Harlow made eye contact with the trainer, Eric Meyer trained Harlow since she was a child which earned Harlow a small amount of favouritism.

"Right, let's jump right into this shall we. Harlow and Riley, a demonstration would you please" Meyer called out,

Harlow and the girl who made the comment made their way up to the front of the class. Harlow knew exactly where this was going which caused her to smirk.

"Harlow… demonstrate" Meyer said,

Harlow took her fighting stance and leaped forward in her assault, punching Riley right in the nose and then in the stomach, causing her to double over and try to protect her body,

"Never be caught off guard, always be ready for a fight" Harlow called out,

"You're fucking crazy!" Riley screamed,

Riley went to turn and run but Harlow wrapped her arm around her neck, holding her in a choke hold,

"Never turn your back on your attacker, they now have the advantage" she said, kicking the back of Riley's knee out causing her to fall to the ground,

"If you end up on the ground, you're basically dead" Harlow said pinning her to the ground as Riley struggled,

"And one last thing," Harlow grabbed Riley's arm and held it out into the air before bringing her foot down on her elbow, the sound of the crack and scream turned stomachs.

"Don't talk shit about someone you don't know to their face, they may kill you for it" Harlow said, dropping the limp and very broken arm before walking back to stand next to Meyer.

"Thank you Harlow for your demonstration, do you want to address the class?" asked Meyer,

Harlow nodded as she took a deep breath.

"My parents were some of Hydra's most loyal agents until they betrayed Hydra and died traitors, I am no traitor, I lay no claim to them as their daughter. We are Hydra and we show no mercy when it comes to the enemy, friends, family and people who don't know their place," she glanced back to Riley weeping on the floor. "When you train you will get hurt and you will learn to endure that pain because if you don't you have no right to become an agent of Hydra. My name is Harlow Zakhaev, I was ranked in the top three most promising agents in training five years ago, only thing that stopped me from becoming number one was the Blip but now nothing is going to stop me" she declared, earning a small applause from Meyer.

Harlow left the training room with haste, she had hoped that little display was a nice act for Mr Fastner who was surely watching the live security footage. She had to show she wasn't weak and was willing to do anything to keep her status in Hydra, including breaking a bitches arm.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3 months ago Harlow came back from the Blip, 3 months since she found out that Hydra killed her parents for deserting and for the past 3 months she had thrown herself into training, anything to keep her mind busy.

She had been pummelling the boxing bag for over an hour in the training room, it was empty as most of the people on the base were at lunch.

She wasn't hungry, she wanted to keep going until her hands were bruised even with the gloves on. 

She had learned to accept the pain and soldier through it.

"Miss Zakhaev?" a voice called out from the door of the training room,

"Yes?" she called back breathless, as she turned to see a guard,

"Mr Fastner wants to see you".

Harlow nodded as he left, she grabbed the boxing bag with both gloved hands and rested her head against it, leveling her breathing.

After a shower, that went by too quickly she arrived at Mr Fastner's office. She knocked and entered,

"You wanted to see me, Sir" she asked, standing with her arms behind her back as she watched him fill out forms on his desk,

"We have an assignment for you" he replied,

Harlow nodded.

"I'm sure you remember the Winter Soldier program, your parents worked very closely on the project" he asked,

"Yes Sir, I know it well," she replied.

"9 years ago we lost our only asset to have come out of the program and after many attempts to recapture him, our lesser batch of soldiers have come up empty handed. Unfortunately when half of the world disappeared so did he, we have reason to believe that James Buchanan Barnes along with another man by the name of Sam Wilson have been working closely with Nick Fury since their return. Now that Captain America is retired we believe now is the time to strike" he stated,

"What is my mission, Sir?" Harlow asked,

"You are one of the best agents we have left and I told you, you would have to prove your loyalty to Hydra in order to stay useful, so here is your chance to do just that" he said,

"You want me to recover the Winter Soldier" she stated,

"No. We want you to kill the Winter Soldier".

Harlow swallowed hard,

"The Winter Soldier has the most assassinations than anyone in Hydra's history, he was created to kill, I'll never be able to get close enough"

"You might not have been a science experiment, but you have trained to kill as well" Mr Fastner said, moving from his chair to stand in front of Harlow. 

"Might I remind you that if you fail this assignment you better hope that he kills you, Hydra doesn't take kindly to failures especially not the daughter of traitors" he said through a sinister smile. 

Mr Fastner placed a hand on her shoulder to lead Harlow out the door, 

"There is a difference between you and the other Hydra agents, they were men and you are a woman. They saw the Winter Soldier as a soldier, not as a man" he said,

Mr Fastner took his hand off of her shoulder as Harlow turned to face him just outside the door, 

"You leave for America in the morning" he said as he took one last look at Harlow before he shut the door.

Harlow couldn't help but shiver, she could still feel his hand on her.

She was finally going home, her parents and her had been undercover as a German family for five years before she disappeared, she only wished her parents were coming with her.

She made her way back to her room and went to the bathroom. 

Harlow couldn't help but stare at her reflection as she thought of her parents for the first time in months. 

She turned on the faucet to splash the cold water onto her face, she had to kill one of Hydra's greatest killers all by herself or she was as good as dead.

Harlow needed to go digging into the Hydra armoury, she needed all the help she could get if she was going to go up against the Winter Soldier.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bucky burst through Sam's door early that morning giving Sam a shock awakening,

"What have I told you about coming in here unannounced? It's called knocking man and I'm pretty sure it was around during your time" Sam said,

"Get up" Bucky demanded, throwing Sam's jacket from the chair to him,

"Why? What's going on?" he asked,

"Fury has some work for us to do in DC, we leave in an hour" Bucky said,

"Well there goes my sleep in" Sam said jumping out of bed.


	4. Town Tavern DC

The flight from New York to DC was short but flying with Sam made it seem like they had travelled to another planet.

"Look all I'm saying is why can't there be a world ending crisis in Las Vegas or Tahiti, you know somewhere fun we can celebrate after we defeat whoever wants to take over the world" Sam cried as they walked off the plane.

Bucky groaned, "There isn't a world ending crisis, not according to Fury anyway" he said hauling his bag over his shoulder.

At the end of the runway Nick Fury stood tall in his signature black coat and eye patch, holding files waiting for the men.

"Sir," Bucky said, nodding his head, Sam followed in suit.

"Barnes… Captain... " Fury addressed the two, Sam turned his attention to the ground as he felt he would never get used to being called Captain.

"Follow me" Fury escorted them to the black range rover waiting for them.

"Wanna tell us the reason why we're here" Sam asked settling into his seat,

"No the world isn't ending if that's what you thought, we had a small breach in our security yesterday, they didn't get anything but I want to know who it was and what they were looking for. We were able to track where the breach was coming from… Georgetown University," Fury said, handing them files, "We ran through security cams but there wasn't a person there without a computer".

"I'm sorry you're going to have to explain what that is to this one" Sam nudged Bucky and received an eye roll in return.

Fury gave Sam a stern look which caused Sam to clear his throat,

"There's a nationwide summit in Seattle in a few days and I've got government officials breathing down my neck to make sure that this breach isn't linked to it. I need someone who is good at hiding in the shadows and his trusty side-kick to go in and find out what is going on" said Fury,

"Hey! Out of me and Robo-cop I feel like I would be better at staying in the shadows than him, you know with the arm and all" Sam said feeling offended,

"Sorry to say Captain but out of you and him only one has come close to killing me and that is an accomplishment in itself" he said, "We're counting on you two" he stated before getting out at his drop off point.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They had rented separate motel rooms for the night, it was small and dingy but helped keep a low profile. Bucky spent what felt like an hour in the shower washing off the day, he was back at it but at least this time he was on the right side of the law.

He had settled down for the night until he heard a knock at his door,

"Hey, we gotta go… I think I found a lead" Sam said busting into Bucky's motel room,

"What? Really?" Bucky asked as he started to gear up,

"Woah, woah we're not going in guns blazing, this is just a scout it out kinda thing. Just grab your jacket and let's go" he said basically running out the door.

They walked a couple blocks before Bucky started to get suspicious,

"Where is this lead then?" Bucky asked cautiously,

"Right here" Sam laughed as they both stood outside of a building with a sign saying 'Town Tavern DC'.

"Why are we here, Sam?" Bucky asked defeated,

"Uh to relax… talk to ladies… things normal people do but I guess you're not normal and don't know how to relax or talk to women" he laughed opening the door and making his way inside.

Bucky sighed and followed Sam into the not so crowded sports bar and headed straight to order their drinks. Football played on all the TVs and people filled the booths, much had changed from Bucky's drinking days.

"I'll have you know I was very good with the ladies back in the day" Bucky said truthfully,

"When was the last time you even talked to a woman huh?" Sam laughed, paying for the first round of drinks,

"70 years, give or take" Bucky mumbled, as the bartender placed their drinks in front of them,

"Not much time to socialise between being a zombie and an ice cube aye?" Sam teased,

Bucky rolled his eyes and took a long sip.

Sam noticed a girl that had settled into a spot next to Bucky and smirked to himself,

"Well buddy, looks like it's time to introduce you to some 21st century girls" Sam slapped his shoulder causing him to stumble back and bump into the girl behind him.

Bucky turned and looked at the girl with wide eyes, he could tell he had startled her as she too stared at him with wide eyes.

Bucky cleared his throat "Sorry about that my friend here is an idiot" he said, the girl gave him a small smile,

"It's okay, I'm sorry to hear about your friend" she replied,

Sam looked between the two of them and muttered 'ouch' underneath his breath before turning back to watch the football game being played above the bar.

There was a short pause until Bucky found something to say,

"So, do you come here often?" he asked,

Bucky heard an audible smack from behind him, which he could assume it was Sam disapproving with the lame question that just came out of his mouth.

"Uh no this is my first time here actually, I'm just passing through for work" she replied,

"What do you do for work?" Bucky asked,

"Just boring business stuff" she smiled, "How about you let me buy you a drink and I can tell you all about it?" asked the girl,

"I'm all set, thank you" he replied, holding up his full glass.

"Next round then" she said,

"How about next round on me" Bucky asked,

"Do you really think I should take a drink from a complete stranger at a bar?" she asked, hiding a smile behind her wine glass in her hand.

"And do you think I would take a drink from a strange woman at a bar?" he interrogated her,

"Ah he's not just a pretty face" she teased, "You have foiled my plan to drug you and have my way with you tonight".

Sam kicked the back of Bucky's legs, he had completely forgotten Sam was behind him. Bucky smirked and took a sip out of his glass,

"You don't need to drug me to do that" he teased,

He stuck out his hand,

"Bucky" he introduced himself,

The girl took his hand in hers,

"Harlow," she replied.


	5. She's Poison But Tasty

“Are you sure your friend will be alright by himself?” asked Harlow on their walk back to the motel, 

“He threatened me to leave him alone when he started flirting with one of the bartenders so I think he’ll be fine” Bucky laughed, 

Bucky had offered to walk Harlow back to her motel, which ended up being the exact same one that Bucky and Sam were staying at. 

They walked up to stairs and stopped at Harlow’s door, Harlow stepped forward to unlock it,

“Well… aren’t you coming in?” Harlow asked innocently,

Bucky smiled and followed her in. 

“Welcome to my crappy motel room” Harlow laughed but her voice cracked,

“I don’t make you nervous do I?” Bucky asked, 

“What? Oh no I just don’t make a habit of bringing strangers home from a bar” she laughed to cover her nerves,

Harlow moved to stand in front of Bucky,

“It was really nice of you to walk me back but I do recall some promises you made at the bar” she smiled,

“Did I? Ah yes the one where I promised you wouldn’t need drugs to have your way with me” he laughed,

“Do you break promises Bucky?” she asked, letting her hands come up to play with his jacket, 

“Never” he whispered, bringing his lips to hers as she thrusted her hands into his hair.

Harlow lost herself, in that moment they were a man and a woman not enemies. 

Bucky broke away suddenly, “I need to tell you something before we go any further” he said, Harlow swallowed hard and nodded,

“I was uh in an accident a long time ago and I lost my arm” he said reluctantly to tell her about his arm, 

“Can I see?” she asked curiously,

Bucky removed his gloves revealing the metal hand, then his jacket, then his shirt 

Harlow stared but the silence became too much for Bucky, 

“Pretty bad hey?” he whispered,

Harlow gave a small smile and lifted her hand to his face, “No, not at all”.

Harlow pulled his face down to her. Their kiss was rough. Bucky gripped her hips and pulled her closer. He groaned softly, low in his throat, he wanted more. He led her to the bed and pushed her down, crawling on top of her. Their tongues entwined and their hands clawed at each other. Bucky played with the bottom of her shirt until Harlow gave him permission to take it off. Bucky gazed down at her body before colliding with her mouth again. 

Bucky’s metal hand drifted down slowly from her cheek, past her bra and to the button of her jeans. The cold touch of the metal forced Harlow to snap back into reality, 

“Wait! We should probably lock the door” she laughed,

“Good idea” he said, getting up and making his way to the door,

Harlow watched as he did and her hand quickly disappeared under her pillow.

His guard was down, this was her chance. 

Her fingers curled around the gun sitting under the pillow she had put there earlier. She slowly pulled it out from under it and stood up, took aim at Bucky’s head and switched the safety off.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Bucky’s reflexes were still as sharp as they had ever been, he heard the distinctive click, a sound no ordinary person was capable of hearing. He turned and kicked the gun out of her hand, making Harlow fall back on the bed, she threw her legs up and kicked Bucky in the chest as he charged at her, sending him backwards, but he quickly regained his composure.

Harlow threw open the bedside table draw to reveal a switchblade and lunged for his neck, a lot messier death than she hoped but she was determined.

Bucky was quick. He blocked the incoming blow with his metal arm but Harlow continued to slash, missing his eye by half an inch and cutting him on the cheek, he hissed in return. 

Enough he thought, 

Bucky latched onto the girl’s wrist and twisted until she let out a cry and dropped the knife. With his other hand he grabbed hold of Harlow’s neck, wrapped his metal fist around and threw her back onto the bed, squeezing tight keeping her in place. Harlow struggled against him, clawing at his metal hand but no matter how much she moved she couldn’t shake him. 

“Who are you!” he yelled while trying to read her,

Bucky noticed Harlow’s jaw move wildly as if she was trying to chew something.

Using his now free hand he shoved his fingers into her mouth, careful not to be bitten. Harlow cried out in resistance but he got a hold of the small cap she had tried to bite down on, he pulled it out and observed it. 

A cyanide pill. 

He threw it on the ground and looked back at the girl who didn’t meet his eye. 

“You’re not going to talk are you” he asked, tightening his grip causing her to gasp for much needed air. 

It was only when Harlow’s eyes started to close that Bucky saw how tight his grip had gotten, he lurched backwards as he had remembered that that wasn’t who he was anymore, the girl coughed and gagged holding her throat now red from the pressure.

Bucky ran his fingers through his hair, the Winter Soldier would have tortured the girl until he got his information and then killed her quickly after but Bucky, Bucky had no idea what to do. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Bucky sighed, he picked up the gun and the knife to make sure she wouldn’t go for them again. 

“Get out” he said, fury radiating from his words, 

Harlow looked at him with wide eyes as she tried to steady her breathing, “What?” she whispered, 

“Leave and don’t come back here, if you do I’ll have no choice but to kill you” he said sternly, 

Harlow couldn’t move, she just stared at the Winter Soldier, the cold-blooded assassin was letting her go. 

“I said go or do I have to make you?!” he yelled, 

Harlow leapt from the bed and grabbed hold of Bucky’s hand that was holding the gun, Bucky pulled back but Harlow pulled it so that the gun was aimed at her head. 

“Kill me” she said, her voice quaking, 

“What?” he asked, concern flooded his face, 

“Just kill me… if you don’t they will, I’m dead either way” she whispered,

“Who will?” he asked, 

“Hydra” she replied,

Bucky almost laughed, “Hydra is dead”, 

“You of all people know the saying, cut off one head, two more grow back. Hydra will never die, there’s always one weed that will continue to grow in it” Harlow cried, “Please I’d rather a bullet to the head than what Mr Fastner has install for me” she said, 

Bucky paused.

“Mr Fastner is still alive?” he asked, 

“Yes, he was the one who gave me this mission, he killed my parents and said that I have to prove my loyalty to Hydra” she said,

“He killed your parents and you still want to do as he says?” he argued,

“I have no choice! Where am I going to go? All I’ve ever known was Hydra, ever since I was a child I was told Hydra was good and that we were changing the world for the better. I know now that we aren’t the good guys, we’re the villains,” Harlow cried, letting her hands fall to her side and sitting back onto the bed, “I have no one, I'm better off dead."

Bucky sighed, ran his hand through his hair and dragged one of the dining chairs in front of Harlow and sat down. Harlow backed up a bit afraid of what he might do. 

“Is Harlow your real name?” he asked,

Harlow nodded.

“Well Harlow how about I make you a deal then, you tell me what you know about what is left of Hydra and I’ll protect you from them” he asked,

“I can protect myself” she stated,

He almost smiled, “Yes I could see that, you put up a good fight but there’s nothing wrong with asking for help. I know that more than anyone” he said,

“You don’t trust me, how do you know that what I tell you is the truth?” she asked,

“Well I guess I just have to take a chance then” he said, sticking out his robotic hand hoping she would take it,

Harlow stared at his metal hand, the one that was choking her not ten minutes ago. Her eyes went from his hand to his eyes, 

He can't be killed, she thought. 

Harlow closed her eyes and deeply sighed, she raised her hand to his and shook it. 

“Hydra ordered me to kill you as they knew you were too dangerous to have free” she admitted, “Hydra has a large base in Germany, when I left they were getting ready for something big” Harlow said, 

“What were they planning?” Bucky asked,

“I don’t know, they weren’t about to tell a traitor's daughter classified information but I know whatever it is, it’s happening in France” she said,

Bucky stared at her, processing what she had just told him.

“So do you believe me Mr Barnes?” she asked to break the silence,

“I believe you Harlow” he replied.


	6. Double Agent

Bucky banged on Sam’s motel door, moments later Sam appeared in the doorway with a smug look on his face but when he saw Bucky’s expression his face dropped.

“What happened?” he asked, his focus shifted from Barnes to the girl from the bar that stood behind the soldier's tall frame,

“Pack your shit, we need to go now” Bucky stated. 

They were ready to go within ten minutes of Bucky knocking on Sam’s door, Harlow had been worried that although she was the one that was sent to kill the Winter Soldier, she didn’t put it past Hydra to trail her movements. She failed at killing him, he was stronger and faster, just like she knew he’d be. She wondered if Hydra even wanted her to come back from the mission successful or if the mission was just her long awaited death sentence.

She was pulled out of her thoughts by Sam, 

“Tell me again why are we bringing along your assassin? Oh sorry why are we bringing along your failed assassin? No offence” Sam said with emphasis on the word ‘failed’.

Harlow sneered at him,

“And what happened with the bartender you were talking to at the bar because from what I saw you were all by yourself in your bedroom, strike out?” she asked sarcastically,

“No” Sam said defensively, “I’ve got more game than him” he pointed to Bucky who was breaking into a pick up truck parked around the corner from the motel, “The only reason he picked you up was because you planned to kill him” Sam said. 

She turned to Bucky, “I don’t like him” she stated pointing a finger towards Sam,

“Yeah, he takes a while to warm up to,” Bucky said, successfully unlocking the driver’s side door and went to work trying to start up the truck. 

“Come on man, why do you gotta be like that?” Sam asked, defeated.

They loaded up the truck, Sam jumped in the driver’s seat while Harlow got in the back, before Harlow could close the door Bucky grabbed in and turned to her, 

“Wait one more thing” he said before quickly clipping a pair of handcuffs onto Harlow’s wrists and attaching them to the car door. 

“What are you doing?!” Harlow shouted, struggling to free herself,

“You said it yourself, I probably shouldn’t trust you, so this a precaution” he said, jumping into the passenger seat,

“You said you believed me?” Harlow huffed, 

“I feel like you are forgetting that I was in Hydra, I know how they operate, show me you don’t pose a threat to us and you won’t be treated like one” he said, giving her a small smirk,

“So what, you want to use me for information then, I’ve already told you everything I know” she said, giving her wrists one final tug,

“Maybe, maybe not” he said,

“I’m about to make this the most uncomfortable car ride you’ve ever had in your life” she said,

“And how are you going to do that?” he asked before turning back around, triumphant. 

Harlow smiled before sending a swift kick into the back of Bucky’s chair, he jumped when her foot made contact. She continued until Bucky turned around and gave her a glare,

“You’re a child” he whispered, Bucky looked to Sam but all he did was smiled back, 

“You wanted to bring her,” he said before putting the car in drive and hitting the road.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

“You know you never did tell me where exactly we are going?” Harlow asked as the car ride had become painfully quiet,

“We are meeting up with Nick Fury at a rendezvous point, it was in case we found out who had hacked their security systems but I feel like he may want to know about this too” Sam said,

“Well aren’t you going to kill two birds with one stone, it was me” Harlow replied, “I’m the one that breached their security, I was trying to find out your location but funnily enough they shipped you right to me” she said,

“And doing it in a place where everyone would look like a suspect, smart” Bucky admitted,

Harlow’s stomach fluttered at the compliment.

“I knew there was no way around them finding out someone had been in their systems so it was the only way I could throw them off my trail but I made sure they didn’t know what I was looking for, so thanks I guess” she said, 

“And the whole try and get the soldier into bed, your idea too?” Sam laughed,

“It nearly worked, didn’t it?” Harlow asked, looking down at her cuffed wrists, “No it wasn’t my idea, Mr Fastner gave it to me” Harlow whispered that last part, visibly disgusted by the idea of him. She looked up from her hands to see Bucky watching her from the rear view mirror before he looked away. 

Harlow noticed they had left Washington D.C and were travelling south, Harlow felt fine being in the car with the two men, it wasn’t until they pulled off the Capital Beltway highway and onto a dirt road that she started to feel uneasy,

“Is going to see Nick Fury some kind of code that means we’re going to leave you for dead in the middle of nowhere or did he decide it was the farmer’s life for him?” she asked, while looking out the car window to see nothing but dirt.

“No, there are plenty of other places we could have left you, why take the trouble to drive all the way out here?” Sam laughed, which didn’t ease the pit in Harlow’s stomach,

“It’s a safe house, middle of nowhere doesn’t draw attention” Bucky said rolling his eyes at Sam’s comment, 

Soon enough they drove up to a house that sat in darkness, it looked like no one was home, until a man in a long black coat appeared on the porch while the car came to a stop.

Nick Fury walked down the old house’s steps looking as pleased as if he had just witnessed his puppy get hit by a truck. 

Harlow swallowed hard as he walked up to her car door and opened it.

“So you know who I am?” Fury asked,

“Yes Sir” she raised her eyebrows at him,

He did a small chuckle under his breath before turning to Sam, 

“You weren’t followed?” Fury asked,

Sam shook his head,

“Good, bring her inside, we need to talk,” he said before turning and walking back into the house. 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harlow was taken inside the old, beat up house. It was caked in dust after years of neglect, the air was stale, nothing felt safe about the place. 

Still bound by handcuffs, Bucky lead Harlow to the top of the stairs that led to a basement,

“Oh great, this just keeps getting better” she joked, showing resistance of going any further,

“Shut it, go,” Bucky ordered, giving her a slight push which made her carry on down the stairs with Bucky and Sam following.

In the basement Fury stood waiting with a frown still frozen on his face. 

“Follow me” he said before turning to face the brick wall,

Harlow shot Bucky a confused look but then the wall started to come apart as it was revealed to be a door to an elevator. Harlow shook her head,

People and their secret doors.

They entered the elevator and rode down what felt like fifty floors until the doors finally opened,

“How big is this place?’ Harlow asked, mouth opened wide,

“Big” replied Fury, as he walked ahead of them down a long hallway which led into a massive room filled with people and computers.

“Take her to one of the rooms, I’ll meet you there shortly” Fury called out from over his shoulder.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After being placed in a room Harlow was interrogated for what felt like hours by Fury. Bucky and Sam weren’t with him but the suspicious mirror that sat behind Fury seemed a bit too big to have just been a mirror so Harlow assumed they watched the whole thing from behind it. 

Harlow felt uneasy, she had told them everything she knew which wasn’t much at all but the looks Fury was giving her felt like he didn’t believe it. 

By the end of the interrogation Harlow was taken to another room, it was similar to the one she had woken up in when she was taken by Hydra after returning from the Snap.The handcuffs were gone but she was still locked in another room. She lied on the bed and stared at the ceiling, she had no control over what was happening to her,

When have I ever had control over my own life anyway, she thought to herself. 

Harlow’s thoughts were interrupted when she heard a knock at the metal door, she shot up and slid to the edge of the bed,

“Uh come in I guess?” she called out,

The door opened and Bucky appeared in the doorway, 

“What do you want?” Harlow sighed, turning her face away from him.

“I’ve come to speak with you,” he said, walking over to her.

Bucky pulled out the chair that sat in the corner of the room and sat down in front of her, 

“What, a final goodbye before I’m shipped off to some prison to never be seen or heard of again” she mumbled, 

“You’re not going to prison Harlow” he said,

“Sure I’m not, I’m Hydra remember” she said turning to him, 

“And so was I?” he replied, 

“Yes but you’re Steve Rodgers best friend, he became a fugitive just to save you because he believed you were good, no one is doing that for me” she said defeated, 

“Sam and I vouched for you” he said, 

“Why? I was assigned to kill you” she stated, feeling confused,

“You’re no killer, Harlow, believe me” he said sympathetically, 

“But I was trained to, I’ve hurt people” she whispered, thinking back to the girl from training and all the other times she had hurt people while working for Hydra.

“Hurting people in training and killing people are two completely different things, look what's done is done, now are you going to stop throwing a pity party and listen to me?” he said, 

Harlow frowned, “Fine why are you here then?” she asked, 

“You’re going to help us take down Hydra once and for all” he said,

“Oh yeah and how exactly am I going to do that?” she laughed at the idea,

“Well first of all I need to die and second, you’re going to need this” he said with a smile before he lifted a hand up to detach his metal arm from his body and held it out to Harlow, her mouth dropped as she looked at it with horror.


	7. Undercover

Harlow entered the new American Hydra Headquarters with haste gripping a large metal suitcase. She felt as if her nerves would get the better of her but she needed to keep a level head. She made her way up elevators and down halls until she faced the door of Mr. Fastner's office. She held her breath as she raised her closed fist to knock, he called out for her to come in. 

“Miss Zakhaev, what a surprise?” he said looking up from his work. 

“Good morning, Sir. I am pleased to announce that my mission has been a success” she said with a smile,

“Is that so, well that certainly comes as a shock” he said curiously.

“If I may, I have brought you a souvenir and proof of my efforts,” she said signaling him to take his hands off of his desk.

Harlow placed the suitcase on the desk, undid the latches, and opened it, she turned the case around to face Mr. Fastner. His eyes lit up at the sight of its contents.

Sitting in the case was the metal arm of the Winter Soldier, the Hydra symbol placed proudly on the shoulder. 

“Miss Zakhaev I can’t believe…” he started to say,

“It was Hydra’s property, after all. I have also disposed of the rest of the body so that no one will ever find him,” she said almost giggly. 

“If I am honest I did not think you were going to be able to pull it off but here you are, you have done a fine job Miss Zakhaev. You are most definitely nothing like your traitor parents and I believe you have completely restored pride to your name" he smiled sickeningly. 

"Thank you, Sir, that makes me very happy," she nodded as she went to take her leave. 

He smiled, "Well in light of this, there is to be a celebration tomorrow night here at Headquarters, I do hope you’ll be joining us?” Mr. Fastner asked,

Harlow turned to look at him, she could tell that she had no choice but to accept, even feigning fatigue from her mission wouldn’t be a good enough excuse to say no.

“I wouldn’t miss it, Sir” she nodded.

Harlow proceeded to spend a few hours in one of the training rooms to give the illusion of normalcy. It was hard to fly under the radar after the rest of Hydra found out about the Winter Soldier’s assassination. Harlow was praised everywhere she went in the building, especially when she ran into Eric Meyer.

“I taught you well, how about it then, jump in the ring with me and 1v1?” he asked,

“I’ll have to raincheck I need to run a few errands” she replied,

“I’ll hold you to it” he laughed as she left the building. 

Harlow got into the ‘private car’ she had promised Bucky and Sam she would call if she needed to talk to them. 

Were you followed?” Sam asked from the driver’s seat while Bucky sat shotgun.

“After that display, I doubt it. There is going to be a celebration tomorrow night at HQ I thought you would like to know” she said, settling into her seat,

“A celebration? So then would be a good time to strike?” Sam asked,

“It will still be heavily guarded but it may be a perfect opportunity to get inside,” Bucky said looking between the two of them.

“How?” Harlow asked with concern,

“They need to hire help don’t they?” Bucky suggested. 

“Well, you know what that means?" Sam asked, 

Harlow looked confused, "What?" she asked,

"We gotta find you something pretty to wear" he joked, making eye contact in the rearview mirror. 

\----------------------------------------————————————————————

“You could have given me a dress with more fabric you know?” she whispered, looking down at the dark blue dressed that was wrapped tightly around the curves of her body.

The party was extravagant, to say the least, Hydra showed off their wealth with an abundance of food, drinks, and entertainment. The celebration was to celebrate both the death of the Winter Soldier and the successful infiltration of the American government via the Nationwide Summit that happened in Seattle. After having a lot of their weeds cut, Hydra had slowly worked their way back in, only this time Nick Fury and the rest of them knew about it. 

“Aw but Bucky was the one that picked it” Sam chuckled on the other end of Harlow earpiece, 

Sam sat two blocks away from HQ undercover in a white van, which lead Harlow to make a series of jokes about men and white vans, Bucky had learned to drown out the now common back and forth between Sam and Harlow. 

“This is not the time for this” Bucky’s voice suddenly came through interrupting their conversation, “We can’t draw attention to ourselves”. 

Harlow plucked a red wine glass from a passing server and sipped it graciously even though she wanted to down an entire bottle to calm her nerves. 

Before she even had time to gather her thoughts a voice called to her from behind.

“Ah Miss Zakhaev, there you are” she turned to see Mr. Fastner’s smug grin, “Well don’t you look lovely tonight?”

“Good evening and thank you” she smiled as she took another sip.

“I wondered if you would join me upstairs on the balcony as I have something to discuss with you, away from all the noise?” he asked politely,

She hesitated, “Surely you don’t want to leave your guests, Sir?” she asked.

“I’m afraid it cannot wait,” he said bluntly.

Harlow put on a smile as she took his arm, he led her out of the room from the rest of the guests. Harlow couldn’t help but look around to hopefully catch a glimpse of Bucky who was under the disguise as a waiter but to her dismay, she couldn’t find him. 

Her job was to keep Mr. Fastner distracted so Bucky could infiltrate his office to find out more of what they were up to, she had only agreed because they would have been surrounded by guests but now she was going to be alone with him. 

It was hard to ignore the unease that had settled in her stomach as the elevator door closed.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————

As soon as the elevator doors opened she broke away from his arm and walked towards the balcony.

Harlow’s chest tightened, she felt safer being closer to the railing than she was next to him and they were very far from the ground.

Mr. Fastner settled beside her at the rail,

“Hydra is very happy with your success. The Winter Soldier would have become a thorn in our side if he hadn’t been eliminated” he said, leaning on the railing clutching his glass close to his chest.

“Of course Mr. Fastner, it was an honor to have been chosen for the mission” Harlow smiled coyly, taking a sip from her wine glass,

“Tell me Miss Zakhaev, what did it feel like? What did it feel like when the bullet pierced his skull? What did it feel like to take a man’s life for the first time?” he asked turning towards her, moving closer. 

Harlow wrapped her arms around her stomach, suddenly feeling more exposed than she already was.

She swallowed hard, “I will not lie to you, Sir.” She looked up into his eyes, “It was difficult but I’m sure once I take a few more, it will come easy” she smiled at him,

He laughed,

“You sound like a true-born killer, Miss Zakhaev” he smiled, “But if only that was the truth” he whispered low,

“What?” she asked, barely taking a breath.

He suddenly lunged towards her grabbing her jaw in his clawed hand, she let out a squeak at both the pain and the shock, dropping her glass in the process. The contents splattered below. 

Mr. Fastner threw his scotch glass over the balcony, reminding Harlow just how high they were. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his gun, raising it to Harlow’s head.

“You really thought we would have let a traitor’s daughter go on an assignment without being followed?” he laughed, “Hydra sees all and we saw your failure, what a waste of potential you have Harlow, I had plans for you” he whispered, the smell of scotch on his breath made Harlow’s stomach turn. 

“I.. I…” she stuttered,

“Now tell me where is Barnes? If you tell me I’m make your death less.. traumatic” he laughed in her ear.

I am going to die tonight, hopefully, Bucky got what he needed and my sacrifice is good for something, she thought as her mind went blank.

The elevator dinged as the doors opened, Bucky slowly walked out of it holding his gun aimed at them. 

“Now that’s no way to treat a lady” Bucky called out,

Mr. Fastner quickly turned around, still holding his gun to Harlow’s head while his other hand wrapped around her throat. 

“Ah Mr. Barnes, I see you have a new arm” he chuckled, 

“It’s much better than the last one,” Bucky stated, “I think you should let her go? he asked,

“You of all people know what happens when you don’t follow the rules here, seeing how you’re still alive Miss Zakhaev betrayed Hydra and after I’ve killed her, I’ll finish you off myself” Mr. Fastner threatened, 

“Many have tried, but I don’t think a man like you will be the one to take me out” Bucky laughed, hiding his worry. 

Bucky looked to Harlow as they both knew he didn’t have a clear shot, not if Harlow wanted to keep her brain on the inside of her skull. 

“I’ll make a deal with you, you let her go and I‘ll go with you quietly, I’m more of a threat than she’ll ever be and you know it” Bucky suggested,

Harlow shook her head, What the hell was he doing?

Mr. Fastner took a minute to think about his offer. 

Bucky looked to Harlow again, only this time she was mouthing something to him,

Shoot me. 

Harlow could tell he was mentally refusing her as he would have thought she was crazy and it was a crazy plan but it was all that she had. 

Trust me Bucky, she mouthed and then moved the hand cradling Mr. Fastner’s to point at her shoulder. 

“I’ve considered your offer Mr. Barnes…” Mr. Fastner started to say before Bucky fired one shot into Harlow’s shoulder, which went through Mr. Fastner’s as well, given how close he was to her. At that very same moment Harlow pushed up on the gun pointed at her head and aimed it towards the sky, it went off with a bang.

Bucky ran over to Harlow pulling her away and in his disoriented state, Mr. Fastner had no chance to fight back before Bucky sent his covered, metal fist into his face, forcing him down onto the floor unconscious. 

Harlow fell to the floor cradling her wounded shoulder, it stung and burned at the same time causing her to wince in pain. Blood rushed down her arm coating the top of her dress. Bucky grabbed the gun near Mr. Fastner’s hand and kneeled at Harlow’s side. 

“Well, that worked better than I hoped,” Harlow said, 

“You’re insane you know that” he stated with a mixture of anger and disbelief, grabbing a hand towel from his pocket,

“And you look like a dork in that waiter outfit” she laughed and then hiss as he placed the cloth on her wound. 

“Can you keep moving?” he asked, handing her Mr. Fastner’s gun,

She nodded.

“Good, we need to get out of here before they realize you’re still alive,” he said helping her up by her other arm. 

Harlow got up with a huff, her arm burning as they walked over to the elevator. Bucky suddenly paused pulling her back. The elevator number counter showed someone was coming right for them and with no stairs, they were trapped on the top floor of the building. 

Bucky swallowed hard and turned to Harlow, “Do you trust me?”

“No! When people say that that means they’re about to do something crazy, obviously!” she said pointing to her shoulder,

“Well you’ve got no choice,” he said, “Sam! Change of plan we need your help, right now top floor!” Bucky yelled into his earpiece.

“Rodger that!” Sam replied in both of their earpieces. 

Bucky suddenly picked up Harlow off the ground with her clear hesitation. 

“Bucky! What are you doing?” she screamed, struggling against him.

Without another word, Bucky jumped up onto the railing and leap over with Harlow screaming in his arms just as the elevator doors opened. The free fall itself was terrifying let alone the fact that Harlow knew they were now falling hundreds of feet with no way of surviving. She would have rathered been shot in the head than go out like a pancake on the sidewalk. 

She tried to look up at Bucky to see what exactly was his plan, to see if his face showed any emotion but the wind made it impossible to see through her hair. 

Harlow’s stomach suddenly lurched forward as they were pulled up by a force, she looked up to see Sam in his Falcon gear. He had caught them before they had hit the ground.

“I see you’ve never jumped out of a building before” he called out laughing,

“No Stars and Stripes on the wings? And you call yourself Captain America” she called up to him mockingly. 

Harlow suddenly felt dizzy as she struggled to keep her eyes open, her breathing became slow and less frequent. She was in shock and was losing a lot of blood out of her shoulder. Sleep slowly crept over her as she drowned out both Bucky’s and Sam’s voices trying to get her to keep her eyes open.


	8. Chapter 8- Put The Past Behind Us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Please review! xx

“Harlow… Harlow… Come on, wake up girl” a voice called Harlow out of her unconscious state.

“Sam… Bucky?” Harlow replied coming out of her daze,

“Now do I look like a damned pigeon or a tin can?” the voice said again as a young, dark-skin girl came into Harlow’s view, “Welcome back to the land of the living, you have been sleeping for too long,” she said. 

“Uh, who are you?” Harlow asked, slowly sitting up, her body tense and sore.

The girl just shot her a smile from behind her clipboard, “While I’m the angel that stitched you up and kept you alive but you can call me Shuri, welcome to Wakanda, Harlow” she announced. 

Harlow sat in the hospital for another hour while Shuri had some braised lamb sent up and let Harlow in on what happened.

“When you got in here I started to doubt my skills, you lost a lot of blood and have been out cold for a week,” Shuri said through a mouthful of meat,

“A week? Where are the guys?’ Harlow asked, 

“The training room just downstairs but uh I wouldn’t go see them right now if I was you, it’s their special time” Shuri whispered that last part and ended with a wink. 

Harlow shook her head and got up slowly, putting on a fresh pair of clothes she made her way to the door. 

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you!” Shuri called out. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After going down a few corridors Harlow managed to find the stairs, she made her way down until she came to a large circle-shaped balcony surrounding a large training room below. Large windows were attached to show the beautiful landscape that was Wakanda outside.

Not wanting to make her presence known she quietly approached the railing. Before she reached it, she heard distinctive Russian being called out from below. 

She looked over and saw Sam standing just outside the training area holding a book and to Harlow’s horror, Bucky was down on his knees in the middle writhing in pain with his hands chained to the ground. 

Sam spoke Russian again, “Rusted, seventeen, daybreak, furnace, nine, be-”. 

“Stop!” Bucky cried out as he gasped for air, he pulled himself from the ground with a clenched jaw.

“This is never going to work!” Bucky shouted angrily.

“A few months at this isn’t going to erase years of what they put you through, you just gotta keep g0-”,

Harlow let out a surprised squeak as Bucky pulled chunks of stone out of the ground where his chains were and flung them across the room, Bucky and Sam looked up to see her standing there clutching the rail while holding back tears, she looked between them both before quickly exiting out the door to her right onto the balcony outside. 

She gasped for air as her lungs constricted tight, she wrapped her arms around her body to stop herself from shaking.

Hydra did this, her parents helped and so did she, we broke him. 

“Harlow?” Bucky whispered from behind as he reached out his hand, he had chase after her afraid that he had scared her. 

“Please don’t touch me” she cried,

“What’s wrong, are you feeling okay? How’s your shoulder?” he asked with concern. 

The questions kept coming but Harlow just wanted the ground to swallow her whole. 

“You’re asking if I’m 0kay, what about you?!” she exclaimed in anger but the anger was for herself. 

He stepped back as if she slapped him, “What do you mean?” he asked, his face contorted with confusion.

“I’ve hurt you, badly. So much more than I ever thought” she whispered quietly, almost to herself.

“You’ve been on a lot of medication, you don’t know what you’re talking-”,

“No! You don’t understand Bucky, my entire family is the cause of your suffering” Harlow took a breath then looked up at him with fear, “My great grandfather is Arnim Zola”. 

“What!” he barely spat out, “but your name..”,

“My mother’s maiden name is Zola, my family has been in charge of the Winter Soldier program from the start, I only really got to see you when you were in cryo so I never saw what they put you through but if it was anything like that” she cried, pointing back inside, “My parents and my grandparents did that to you, all the way back to him. If you stayed in Hydra I would of be next in line to break you”. 

Bucky stared at Harlow but she saw nothing behind his eyes like all life had been drained. Soon they turned dark and filled with rage. Without another word, Bucky stormed away leaving Harlow on the balcony alone. 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Harlow! Don’t touch that!” a voice called behind her,

“Sorry Mom” Harlow whispered backing away from the controls and continued to sweep the dirt building up on the laboratory floor. 

“Good girl, you are here to clean and that’s all, you will learn all of this in due time, okay” her mom came up and placed a hand on her shoulder. 

Harlow nodded. 

“Is it time for the iceman to wake up yet?” Harlow asked staring up at the frozen man in the tube,   
“No honey not yet” her mother replied,

“Good, I like him better like this, he looks like he’s dreaming but when he wakes up, he’s always mad and sad. Does he have a name or is it iceman?” Harlow asked stepping closer to the tube, curiosity took over her as she was barely ever allowed in the lab. 

“It doesn’t matter Harlow, he’s no one,” Harlow’s father said walking into the lab.

Harlow looked down at the floor and continued to sweep, stealing glances at the scary man behind the glass. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Harlow opened her eyes as she felt a pounding headache start to rise in the back of her skull. She was mad at her parents, making a ten-year-old see those horrible things, preparing her to take over their horrible work. 

Making her believe what they were doing was right. 

Harlow made her way to the kitchen in search of water only to stumble across Bucky hunched over the island bench drinking. 

“Hey” she whispered, carefully approaching the bench where he sat, “Mind if I join you?” she asked.

Bucky glanced at the empty seat next to him and nodded. The silence soon became too much as Harlow finally spoke,

“I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry,” she said,

“No” he paused, “You don’t have to apologize, you wouldn’t have been able to do anything back then, it was just a lot to process especially how we nearly lost you,” he said, gulping down the last of his whiskey.

Harlow gave him a small smile, “Who would have thought the most feared soldier in all of Hydra would be such a softy” she joked.

“Hey!” he called out.   
Harlow laughed, “They would tell children that if they didn’t do as they were told that the big scary Winter Soldier would come and take them away, you know” she smirked.

“Oh great, so I was the Boogyman to Hydra’s children” he rolled his eyes.

“I found you terrifying” she laughed, “I actually had a dream that’s why I can’t sleep, it was more of a memory I guess. When I was younger they let me tidy the lab while my parents worked and I use to ask questions about you all the time,” she said, grabbing a glass out of the cabinet and pouring herself a drink, and refilling his. 

“Were they how could one man be so good-looking?” he laughed,

“I was a child!” she said with wide eyes, “I would say that I liked you better in cyro than out, you always looked peaceful when you were under,” she said sadly, sitting back down. 

“I guess in a way I was, I wasn’t out killing people” he whispered, looking into his glass. 

Harlow looked at Bucky, he was hurting. 

“I think I might be able to help you overcome what my family has done to you,” she said suddenly,

“How?” he looked at her with hope. 

“I studied you, in theory. I studied Zola’s work, I never got to actually work with you but I think how you’re going about the trigger words are wrong” she took a swig from her glass, “I’m guessing every time you and Sam have done this you have always been chained down, right?” she asked.

He nodded.

“That’s the thing, you’re the only one that can overcome what they did, the words have been program to not only put you under someone’s control but they also trigger your fight or flight response. So I think you need to be completely in control over your body, in order to regain control over your mind when you hear the words. So instead of physically fighting you only have to focus on mentally fighting and I think a gentler approach would help too” she said feeling like a weight had been removed from her chest. 

“Okay I haven’t got anything else to lose, do I?” he replied, downing his third glass of the night. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

They started early in the morning, with no distractions. 

Harlow admitted she was nervous, she had to try and undo over fifty years of abuse her family had inflicted on him, to try and fix the damage that had been done. 

Harlow stepped up to Bucky as he handed her the blood-red leathered book 

“Are you ready?” Harlow asked, opening the book and gripping the sides.

“Ready” he nodded. 

Harlow began, “Longing, rusted, seventeen, daybreak, furnace, nine-”.


End file.
